MARFA version 3.2.2 user's manual: migration analysis of radionuclides in the far field

The computer code Migration Analysis of Radionuclides in the Far Field (MARFA) uses a particle-based Monte Carlo method to simulate the transport of radionuclides in a sparsely fractured geological medium. Transport in sparsely fractured rock is of interest because this medium may serve as a barrier to migration of radionuclides to the accessible environment. The physical processes represented in MARFA include advection, longitudinal dispersion, Fickian diffusion into an infinite or finite rock matrix, equilibrium sorption, decay, and in-growth. Multiple non-branching decay chains of arbitrary length are supported. This document describes the technical basis and input requirements for MARFA Version 3.2.2. MARFA Version 3.2 included new capabilities to accommodate transient flow velocities and sorption parameters, which are assumed to be piecewise constant in time. Version 3.2.1 was a minor change from Version 3.2 to allow a more convenient input format for sorption information. New capabilities in Version 3.2.2 include an option to specify a non-zero start time for the simulation, an optional input parameter that decreases the amount of retention within a single fracture because of flow channeling, and an alternative method for sampling the radionuclide source. MARFA uses the particle on random streamline segment algorithm /Painter et al. 2006/, a Monte Carlo algorithm combining time-domain random walk methods with pathway stochastic simulation. The algorithm uses non-interacting particles to represent packets of radionuclide mass. These particles are moved through the system according to rules that mimic the underlying physical transport and retention processes. The set of times required for particles to pass through the geological barrier are then used to reconstruct discharge rates (mass or activity basis). Because the algorithm uses non-interacting particles, the transport and retention processes are limited to those that depend linearly on radionuclide concentration. Nonlinear processes such as solubility-limited transport or aqueous speciation are not represented. The MARFA code is specifically designed to work with output from discrete fracture network (DFN), continuous porous medium (CPM), or nested DFN/CPM flow models. Transport is assumed to occur along a set of trajectories or pathways that originate at radionuclide source locations. Trajectories are intended to represent the movement of hypothetical, advectively transported groundwater tracers and are typically calculated by pathline tracing in a DFN or DFN/CPM flow code. MARFA supports an arbitrary number of trajectories and source locations.